The Problem, Methodology and Results

Part 1: The Problem, Methodology and Results

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 The Problem, Methodology and Results

Part 1: Problem, Methodology and Results

Introduction: In the first phase (1998-2000), the Environmental Education

(EE) Project of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
conducted a status survey of environmental education in the Asia-Pacific region
and compiled 36 status reports for a book titled Environmental Education in the
Asia-Pacific Region. The book consists of these reports in a condensed form
and three chapters dealing separately with overall status, methodology and
prospects for environmental education in the region. Based on these status
reports and intensive discussions with regional education experts, practitioners
and facilitators, the Project began to work on the development of a regional
strategy on environmental education. Subsequently, the Project, in partnership
with collaborators, successfully completed the preparation of a comprehensive
document called Regional Strategy on Environmental Education in the Asia-
Pacific. These documents have already been published and are in distribution.

The second phase of the Project, which commenced in 2001, is built on work
and results obtained in the first phase. The network of regional environmental
educators initiated in the first phase has been continued into the second phase.
Taking into consideration advice and suggestions from educators, practitioners,
facilitators and partners, the Project embarked on the second phase by making
its activities more field-oriented. As a result, the Project has focussed on more
practical action-oriented activities such as the preparation of educational
materials, providing training to stakeholders and conducting action research on
eco-tourism education.

Since the Asia-Pacific region is economically, culturally and socially diverse

and its problems varied and complex, the Project began to explore the prospects
of disseminating locale-specific methods and results of good environmental
education. Just as the problems are varied, so are the methods adopted to
address these problems. Some of these are good and successful, whereas others
are poor and not up to the mark. In many cases, problems have bred problems.
So, the Project began to prepare materials on two areas, one on diffusing the
ideas of exemplary works, and the other on the preparation of materials to raise
environmental awareness of the people.

In this context, the idea of documenting exemplary work on environmental

education was conceptualized. By documenting exemplary works already in
place in the region, scarce resources would be saved by not “reinventing the
wheel”. So the primary goal of this scheme is to record and document
exemplary cases of environmental education in the region. These have been
called pioneering examples, to mean first and better ideas in the field of
environmental education. These examples are not the best at all but are
definitely better among the good ones.

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 The Problem, Methodology and Results

Rationale: As mentioned above, the region is diverse and has varied problems.
In other words, every country has its own problems as well as its own modes to
address them. Problems as well as means to address them are locality-specific
in nature. In some countries, these methods are successful, whereas in other
countries, they are not because they are perceived and implemented in different
ways. And we do not have adequate knowledge about them. This is the reason
why we need to record and document them. If properly documented, then these
examples, on the one hand, could be a source of new inspiration to new
practitioners. They could be a motivation as well as recognition to continuing
practitioners, on the other. Both of these would help further improve the
example and the replicability of the examples. This would prove to be a
valuable means to disperse knowledge and experience to others. Taking these
points into consideration, the study set up its specific objectives as follows.
• Document cases of environmental education that are considered
exemplary,
• Investigate how, under what conditions, these cases successfully work,
• Make these cases easily available and accessible to the practitioners.

Significance: The major significance of this study is that it provides an

opportunity to make the best utilization of knowledge already available in the
region. It would be easy for people to know, understand and even to adopt
model examples from the region and adapt ideas to their specific situation.
When these ideas are applied, cross-fertilization of ideas may occur, therefore
leading to the emergence of serendipity. Exemplary works can serve as a role
model for others to implement environmental education in the region. Seeing
these examples first hand, people learn and adopt new ideas, skills and practices.
It is easy for them to be convinced and determined in adopting new ideas. It
may encourage and motivate them to be pioneering and innovative. Indeed, it
provides comparative advantages. The successful examples may also help
create a congenial situation for healthy competition and prompt widespread
diffusion of ideas among educators, facilitators and practitioners.

Limitations: Although the study is about pioneering examples, it neither

represents the country, nor covers the wide array of knowledge on
environmental education. What it does is to document some good examples as
perceived by collaborators, of course, in consultation with their partners in
some cases. Therefore these examples are not representative at all. Another
limitation is that some of these examples presented are just good for a particular
place and time and have not been tested to see if they are good in other places,
or if they can be easily replicated elsewhere.

Methodology: The methodology adopted here is interactive in nature. Special

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 The Problem, Methodology and Results

attention was paid to maintaining consistency and uniformity in the presentation

of contents and style. The Project developed a set of questions, discussed it in
its regular meeting and revised it accordingly. The second draft was sent to the
collaborators for their inputs and comments. Collaborators made comments on
the draft as well as discussion with their partners, stakeholders and local actors
about exemplary cases of environmental education. The responses were
overwhelmingly encouraging and varied. The final draft consisted of the
following points.

• Background (philosophy, objectives, targets, responsible organization

etc.)
• Description of activities (including achievement, results, resource
allocation, key players etc.)
• Issues and problems encountered (including their negative impacts)
• Reflection and lessons learned (self-assessment, appraisal and taking
stock etc.)
• Future prospects (in terms of impact, sustainability and replication)
• Contact address for further information

Collaborators were instructed to initiate the process of consultation in order to

identify five examples to be included in the paper. Instructions were given to
follow the format developed by the Project. Also, the collaborators were asked
to provide good examples of poorly implemented environmental education
programs so that it would be easy to draw lessons not only from successes, but
also from failures. Some collaborators responded, while others faced problems
in identifying unsuccessful examples, particularly faulty approaches, procedure,
plan etc. Only a few examples of poorly managed education programs have
been presented in the paper.

Country Selection: Altogether, fifteen countries were selected for the study.
The existing network was employed to select collaborators from 12 countries of
the Asia-Pacific region (Bangladesh, India and Nepal from South Asia;
Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines from Southeast Asia; China, Japan,
Korea and Mongolia from Northeast Asia; and Kiribati and Vanuatu from the
Pacific region). Also, collaborators from Costa Rica (Latin America) and
Botswana and Kenya (Africa) participated in writing the paper. These reports
were edited for the sake of clarity and brevity (See Chapter II for details).

Summary Findings: It is now widely accepted that new educational initiatives

are an essential requirement for the future of humanity that will go beyond
awareness to create new patterns of behavior by individuals, groups and society
as a whole towards the environment. Such education must develop the
necessary knowledge, attitudes, skills and commitment needed to motivate
people to take proactive environmental action in their lives. And a choice must

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 The Problem, Methodology and Results

be made between wide and in-depth coverage of environmental issues

Prof. Tidimane from Botswana, one of the collaborators opines that (see the
report from Botswana), “The fundamental lesson learnt is that environments are
different and so are the problems and that there is a resultant need to put in
place structures that will help people, especially the youth, to address these
different concerns within their local environments. Such efforts must be
sustainable and must be a part of the pupils’ learning experience. They must
allow students to reflect on their environment and in their own way tell us the
issues and concerns.”

Collaborators from Korea report that the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of
Environment and NGOs formed a panel to study a set of criteria to evaluate
programs. These criteria are; (1) goals and objectives, (2) instructional planning,
(3) instruction, (4) learning outcomes, (5) program characteristics, and (6)
program management (see the examples from Korea for details).

Prof. Rabago suggests that a critical thinking approach and inquiry approach
(analyzing statements, claims or arguments before deciding what course of
action is to be taken) should be used to analyze environmental issues.

With a view to reverse the one-sided flow of experience and information on the
management of natural resources from the developing world to the developed
world, the Center for Science and Environment of India launched a fortnightly
news magazine, called Down to Earth, on science and the environment. The
aim was to bring all this information to the policy makers and the public
quickly and accurately. The magazine reaches out to a wide spectrum of
interest groups. It focuses on-the-ground issues and their in-depth analysis (See
report from India).

From the reports submitted to the Project, the total of 69 examples of

pioneering cases and six examples of poor environmental education programs
were selected from over eight dozen examples. These examples range from co-
curricular activities to strategic partnerships, from drama to club activities, from
an ecological park to a field-based ecology course, from bio-literacy to a school
bio-park etc. The review of examples shows that examples are diverse and
varied and include all channels of education; formal, informal and non-formal.
Survey findings, which are briefly discussed below, have been divided into two
parts, (a) success stories of exemplary works (Box A), and (b) lessons from
failures (Box B).

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 The Problem, Methodology and Results

Box A: Success Stories of Exemplary Works

1. Teaching and learning on the environment goes beyond the boundary of a

classroom.
2. Effective environmental education addresses needs, interests and aspirations of
learners.
3. The effectiveness of educational programs depends on the extent to which local
norms, values and practicality are taken into consideration.
4. A successful environmental education program eventually leads to the community
being the real practitioner of good environment management.
5. Partnership, based on reciprocity, is key to the success of an innovative educational
program.
6. Educational messages can be delivered effectively when the educational approach
is based on the “fun-and-learn” philosophy.

(a). Success Stories of Exemplary Works

This section has, among others, drawn six lessons that could be put into practice
in implementing the regional strategy of environmental education. How well
these examples are and/or have been working in the region can be found below.
For details, readers should refer to Part Two.

1. Teaching and learning on the environment goes beyond the boundary of

a classroom.

Teaching and learning on the environment cannot be confined to a classroom

only. It has to be supported by out-of-class activities as well. Examples from
Kenya suggest that in participatory action research, students, teachers, and
facilitators as well as inspectors, head masters and other environmental
administrators are involved. Out-of-classroom activities make them learn more
based on “cooperation” rather than on “competition”. The effectiveness and
success of the course is, well demonstrated by comments some students have
made during their discussion that these animals are not dangerous to humans,
but vice versa because of the latter’s intervention and encroachment. The course
provided an opportunity for the students to learn some aspects of curriculum,
which they were not able to learn from the classroom and teachers.

Other innovative programs include education for street and slum children by the
Wildlife Club of Kenya in cooperation with the Giraffe Center (See examples
from Kenya), establishment of school parks in 33 schools and establishment of
a recreational-cum-educational center, called biopark (Bioparque in Spanish) at
the National Biodiversity Institute in Costa Rica

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 The Problem, Methodology and Results

The Mochudi Education Center of Botswana has been running child-centered

EE for the past 10 years, which utilizes primary school pupils as both targets
and agents of EE and uses people’s immediate environment in the acquisition of
environmental knowledge. This is an obvious departure from the traditional
education model of “the teacher talks and the pupil listens”.

The National University of Mongolia and an NGO called the Environmental

Education and Research Institute “Eco-Asia” made a first collaborative move to
provide a short practical training of 1 to 2 weeks for secondary students on
pasture land management.

An example from Korea shows how students of an elementary school

conducted research work for one year on the extent and causes of pollution in
the Nam river and how another elementary school conducts an activity-based
study called “We Love Firefly” to develop a close relationship with and
sensitivity about nature.

In Japan, the Central Environmental Council assisted environmental education

facilities to establish networks to run local environmental education programs
for communities and local leaders. Also, the Government of Japan has set a rule
that the government revises its course of study for schools every ten years. The
elementary course, Life Environmental Studies, which combines the concepts of
natural science and social science, is the direct result of this revision process.
This course provides hands-on experience and skills to children of Grades 1 and
2. Now the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Technology has
implemented a new scheme, Period of Integrated Studies. Under this scheme,
schools are required to schedule study periods of 2-3 hours a week, in which
students should be given inter-disciplinary exposure to subjects like
international understanding, environment, welfare and health.

China’s “Hand in Hand Earth Village” has involved school students through
the sale of recyclable materials in constructing five primary schools. Millions of
school children are taking part in the project. Similarly, the Hope School Project
and the Green School Project are also active in raising children’s awareness and
improving the environment of schools. Another pioneering example from China
is the co-curricular activities by primary school students in devising a practical
garbage collection system for the city on recyclable materials. The report was
so moving that the city government implemented some of the measures
suggested in it.

A teacher’s manual for primary school children in Bangladesh, a floating

environmental education center in the Tonle Sap in Cambodia for school
children and communities, development of comprehensive guides for
elementary school teachers in Korea, and greening of the national curriculum

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 The Problem, Methodology and Results

and development of informal conservation education complementary to the

national curriculum in Nepal are some of the good examples of environmental
education activities reported in the papers.

State universities in Indonesia, each have established a Center for Research of

Human Resources and Environment in their respective campus to promote
teaching and training, research, and community services on environmental
issues. The centers emphasize horizontal and vertical integration of
environmental education in the national education system. In China the normal
universities have established an environmental education center to develop
training materials and provide training to master teachers (trainers of trainers),
who in turn, provide training to facilitators, administrators etc.

Uttaranchal, one of the states of India, has introduced a course called Our Land,
Our Life in all schools and intermediate colleges in the state. This course
focuses on the local livelihood aspects of environmental problems and on
developing practical skills for their solution. The course was introduced after
running an experimental study in the state. Local communities were involved in
the preparation of the course. It has 36 practical exercises along with a manual
for teachers. The course is holistic, locale-specific and relevant to local
conditions. Another strength of the course is its concern on both awareness and
actions, in which knowledge gained is applied, practiced and socialized by the
residents of the communities.

2. Effective environmental education addresses needs, interests and

aspirations of learners.

Students are concerned not only with knowledge, attitude and skills but also
with their immediate goal of passing the examination. Students are concerned
with securing highest marks in the examination and teachers always desire to
complete the course before the examination so that students can secure good
marks/grades, get admission in a good school, obtain a degree etc. So the
teaching and learning activities are based around their final examination. They
do not want to do anything that is outside of their curriculum. Thus, anything
that devalues their curriculum is not their choice and interests. In order to make
EE successful, it is important to know the aspects of the curriculum to be
fulfilled by EE in a particular condition. This condition has been met by a
course called Field-Based Ecology Course in Kenya. The author has rightly
asks the question, “What aspects of the curriculum can be taught using the
park?’ and not “What aspects of the park can be taught to the students?”
Similar examples of informal conservation education in Nepal and activity-
based firefly course in Korea also address the curricular needs of students.

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 The Problem, Methodology and Results

3. The effectiveness of educational programs depends on the extent, to

which local norms, values and practicality are taken into consideration.

A good example can be taken from Vanuatu, where a chief in Central Pentecost
region remains secluded in his Nakamal (Chief’s meeting house) for 10 days,
after participating in a ceremonial pig killing. Then he emerges and ritually
cleans himself of blood and paint. The site where he washes becomes a taboo
area, from which living resources cannot be harvested until the taboo (known as
Tak) is lifted. EE becomes a supporting instrument in the process. Chief Ignatus
called a series of informal meetings and informed the people about his idea of
doing the custom ceremony and washing himself at Lekavik and consulted with,
and got endorsement from other chiefs and people. Cycad leaves clearly marked
the area of restricted areas. No one breaks the taboo in the community after the
ceremony.

The use of the traditional custom Maneba for environmental education and
establishment of a demonstration garden on using and making compost in
Kiribati have been very successful. In the state of Rajasthan in India, the revival
of traditional Johads, local water harvesting check dams, was the most
appropriate method to harvest rain water and save forest at a village in
Rajasthan. Rules for hills -- not allowing browsing cows for three years, goats
for five years and camels for seven years -- which led to the forming of a
virtual fencing or social fencing, has revived the local harvesting structure.
These Johads prevent rainwater from running off.

The education that is based on reality (the real life situation) is environmental
has been confirmed by the pastoral nomads of the Somalia region. The
education that exists among these pastoral Somali is the “one that is meant to
equip members with knowledge of their pastoral and nomadic nature and
necessary for their survival”. The youth, under the guidance of the elder
members, master the principles and practices of traditional range management.
They do it through the use of poetry, orally and maintained in memory. The
poetry is issue-based, well-defined, and practical and contains life experiences
and realities of the nomadic pastoralist. They are for entertainment as well as an
escape from misery and worries.

4. A successful environmental education program eventually leads to the

community being the real practitioner of good environment management.

The community should become the practitioners of environmental education

rather than an object or recipient. After many consultations and sensitization
programs, villagers of Botswana were motivated to register a community trust
to manage the natural resources. These trusts each were mandated to decide

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 The Problem, Methodology and Results

what to do with their land and its natural resources, which allowed them to
control, use and subsequently benefit from natural resources.

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in Vanuatu organized a series of

informal community workshops for landowners and residents to raise the level
of environmental awareness among the people on the protection of the forest at
Big Bay. The second step involved the training of landowners and residents in
different activities such as hosting tourists, nut harvesting, processing
demonstrations, sustainable fishing, gardening and alley-cropping. The
communities were able to settle disputes by exchanging traditional goods such
as mats, pigs and food crops and set aside the area for conservation. As a direct
result of informal environmental education, Vatte Conservation Area was
formally set up. This has changed people’s negative attitudes from destroying
their forest to protecting them. Likewise, communities have made a good
example of the bottom-up approach of conservation such as imposing taboo on
harvesting coconut (Birgus latro) to recover from over-harvesting. It has been
protected and no one has violated the taboo. The area has been formally
declared as Loru Protected Area.

5. Partnership, based on reciprocity, is key to the success of an innovative

educational program.

A voluntary nation-wide green club, called Junior Eco-club has been set up in
Japan to increase children’s awareness and participation in environmental
conservation. Students are encouraged to work in a group. Activities differ from
one club to another, and they are based on member’s needs and interests. They
share their exposures and successes with other fellow students through a
newsletter and exchange program. The club has two kinds of activity (1)
ecological action (locale-specific), and (2) ecological training (common
national program).

A public high school and the Korean Federation of Environmental Movements

show how a good example of close partnership and networking among schools
has been successful in establishing a sisterhood relationship with 17
kindergartens and baby care centers.

A good example of a unique partnership between the government and NGO is

found in India, where the Department of Environment and the Nehru
Foundation for Development collaborated in the establishment of a national
center for environmental education, called the Center for Environmental
Education, under the Department’s excellence program. It has made many
model programs and developed methodologies that are widely used in this
country and abroad. The center has demonstrated the importance of involving
concerned GOs and NGOs strategically in environmental education.

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 The Problem, Methodology and Results

With a view to motivate pupils in solving environmental problems in their

immediate area in Botswana, the Department of Environmental Affairs and
Tourism, Department of Education, the Department of Agriculture with some
big companies, organized a nation-wide environmental competition project for
2,800 schools.

An ecological awareness program was initiated for housewives by the Ministry

of Nature and Environment in cooperation with the Democratic Woman
Association. The Association held a series of meetings and discussions about
sanitation, garbage collection, rubbish etc. Housewives were taught about
sorting out garbage and selling it to agencies. Even children were mobilized and
a good amount of money was made. In this way they have been making their
city clean.

6. Educational messages can be delivered effectively when the educational

approach is based on the “fun-and-learn” philosophy.

Environmental drama now has been widely used in many countries. The drama
has been found to be a useful tool as a medium of communication, as a means
of entertainment and as an appreciated cultural tool offering fun and learning in
the environment. This is more particularly so in traditional societies with very
high illiteracy. In Botswana, the drama was on water management, particularly
on impact of managed and mismanaged environment on the livelihoods of
people as well as on the environment. After the drama, students were helped to
make their own plays on some topics. It was useful to arouse student’s interests
and participation.

In Kiribati, drama is a vehicle for expressing things in the culture that can not
be readily verbalized. The theater group has been a means of environmental
education. At the end, they invite questions from the audience, give them
direction if they need more information and could use “playback theater”. This
does “re-express and reinforce”. In Nepal, drama known as street theater has
been effective in raising women’s awareness on natural resource management.
Vanuatu’s One Little Bag theater has been popular, not only in Vanuatu but also
in some countries of the Asia-Pacific region.

(b). Lessons from Failures

In the previous sections, the analysis of success stories were used to explain
how they can be used to change people’s knowledge, attitude and behaviors in
the real life situation. These examples can be applied in any place, after
adapting to local situation. In this section, efforts are made to show how failure
stories can be used to improve educational programs in other countries. About

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six examples of failures have been selected to show why educational programs
have failed to achieve their goals. The details can be found in the last chapter of
the book. Although many lessons can be extracted from these examples only,
six lessons that are pertinent to the activities of the Project are presented in Box
B. And their brief description follows.
Box B. Lessons from Failures

1. Voluntary actions will not occur when mandatory regulations are in place to
implement the scheme.
2. If the concerned actors are not taken into consideration while designing the plan,
voluntary programs are likely to collapse.
3. The success of environmental educational programs is positively related to the cost
participants would have to pay.
4. The effectiveness of educational materials depends on the target audience, contents
and clarity of the message.
5. Educational programs will not be successful if they do not take into consideration
needs, interests and aspirations of the country.
6. Education programs fail if the educational policy is not followed by action (s).

1. Voluntary actions will not occur when mandatory regulations are in

place to implement the scheme.

The Government of India launched an ecomark scheme in 1991 to make the

manufacturers and consumers conscious of eco-friendly products. This is how
the Government wished to monitor environment-friendly activities. The scheme
was based on several criteria such as (1) less potential for pollution, (2) use of
recyclable materials, (3) made from bio-degradable or recycled materials, (4)
saving non-renewable resources and (5) reducing adverse effects on the
environment. The eco-mark scheme has two points; one is to make the
consumer conscious of environment-friendly products and the other is to
guarantee that the product is environment-friendly. This label is awarded to
consumer goods that meet the specific environmental criteria and quality
requirement of Indian Standards. Why did the scheme not take off? Why was
the scheme limited to the paper only? Firstly, the ecomark scheme, to be
successful, has to come voluntarily from manufacturers, not as a mandatory
regulation from the government. Secondly, because of low income per capita,
consumers have low purchasing power and they are more price-conscious and
are driven by necessity rather than the virtue of the products and their quality.
Thirdly, the reason that attributed to the failure of the scheme is that the
Government did not consult actors about the purpose, market, targets, and
incentives required to promote the products.

It was found that the brand awareness of the environment friendly products was

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 The Problem, Methodology and Results

generally low. And there was no consumer education and virtually no

communication between the manufacturers and consumers.

2. If the concerned actors are not taken into consideration while designing
the plan, voluntary programs are likely to collapse.

The burning example of this case can be extracted from a case study on species
investigation from China. Teachers and students undertook a study to observe
the natural process of species formation along the highway. After conducting
the study for ten months, one morning researcher went to collect data but found
that all the trees had been felled. The project had to be canceled. A similar
case can be found in the production of a video program in Kiribati.

3. The success of environmental educational programs are positively

related to the cost the participants have to pay.

The ecomark scheme could not take off in India because the purchasing power
of the consumer was not taken into consideration. Consumers in poor
countries are always price-conscious and necessity-driven. They do not show
their concerns on environmental quality of the products available in the market.
In Nepal, a one-week long training program for teachers could not be sustained
as the fee the teachers had to pay was relatively high and schools could not
release their teachers to obtain refresher’s training programs as there is a serious
shortage of teachers.

4. The effectiveness of educational materials depends on the target

audience, contents and clarity of the message.

The production of a video on solid waste management titled Ana Bwaintangira

Nareau in Kiribati gives us enough reason to say that educational materials are
not effective if they are not target specific. The video was more than of one
hour duration and had several themes. The message became irrelevant to the
targets and thus boring. While showing the video many found that the material
was too long and not interesting. People began to talk among themselves while
the video was still on, some would stand up and leave while others would lie
down and some even could dose off to sleep. The audience became restless and
impatient and began to disturb others by making a lot of noise. Some people
would quit the video half way before most of the people would leave while the
workshop is still going on. Even when the videos are locally produced, they
become ineffective, if the audience is not specified and message is not clear.
This video was not successful in the communities.

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 The Problem, Methodology and Results

5. Educational programs will not be successful if they do not take into

consideration needs, interests and aspirations of the community.

The fact that a program that comes from the top does not succeed can be shown
by an example from Vanuatu. The case of Nagha and Pineia Protected Area of
Vanuatu shows how an externally assisted program failed to meet the
expectations of both implementers and the communities. An Australian
volunteer organization and the Department of Forestry began to conserve the
forests of Nagha and Pineia, after a series of meetings with the chief and local
communities. The family of the Chief decided to conserve the area for a period
of ten years and the plan was renewable after ten years. A consultation process
began to set up the protected area, but it did not materialize because they did
not initiate any eco-tourism project, local people could not take up the project
internally, and dependence was created by the project.

The program should come from the bottom and from the inside. The program
should be meaningful and significant and then only people would accept and
manage the program in a real sense. The confidence of the people should be
bought into consideration. The top down approach always develops a feeling of
dependency among people.

6. Education programs fail if the educational policy is not followed by

action (s).

In Kenya, the British pattern of education was overhauled, the American system
of education was introduced with one structure but with the same mechanism of
operation. In this educational system, EE is encouraged for all the levels of
schools but the reality is that EE is hardly a concern for anyone involved with
school in Kenya. Kenya has adopted a cross-curriculum approach
(incorporation of environmental concepts across the curriculum in all the
subjects) to EE but has given rise to a number of issues and problems. Due to
lack of training, teachers do not dare to teach the integrated subjects, they lack
confidence in teaching, and they felt that their specialization has been
compromised. The cross-curriculum approach was meant to show the relevance
of EE issues in all aspects of student life and society. But his proved counter
productive for the curriculum. When EE was seen as every teacher’s
responsibility, it became no one’s responsibility. The curriculum is linked to the
examinations and non-examinable issues have no meaning for both students and
teachers. Teachers specializing in two courses show their constraints in teaching
EE. They were pondering if they were teaching chemistry or physics or outdoor
education, which led to big confusion.

Another reason for failure is that the cross-curriculum approach does not have a

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clear-cut goal and objectives. Teachers are confused and feel that they have to
compromise with their specialization. There is a feeling that “Is it another name
for biology or chemistry or an outdoor education?” The policy is one thing
but the practice is another. There lacked a clear policy to translate the plan into
action.

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